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Sony’s ‘The Interview’: No Threat to Movie Theaters says DHS

By Glynn Cosker
Editor, In Homeland Security

Calming nerves ahead of the upcoming release of the controversial James Franco and Seth Rogen movie “The Interview,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials stated Wednesday that there was “no credible intelligence” to indicate terror attacks on the nation’s cinemas.

The statement came after the New York City premiere of the movie at Manhattan’s Landmark Sunshine Cinema was called off when the group responsible for hacking Sony Entertainment threatened violence at any movie theater showing the film. The group reportedly cited the 9/11 attacks in their warnings and told people to vacate homes located next to cinemas. “The Interview” focuses on a CIA initiative to use U.S. journalists to kill North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un.

Franco and Rogen have canceled all promotional interviews and appearances including Rogen’s upcoming spot on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” The hesitancy of the movie’s stars speaks to the stupidity of making “The Interview” in the first place. It was a major risk, and it backfired.

In his column in the New York Post, Michael Goodwin stated Wednesday about the comedic film: “It’s a stretch to believe there are yuks to be had in a movie about the illegal assassination of a living person…Sony execs, who were troubled by the project, should have pulled the plug.”

I agree with Goodwin. A Christmas Day release with two bankable stars about bumping off Kim Jong-un? This whole project was more deserving of a straight-to-Netflix treatment, starring unknowns, and nestled in the listings somewhere between “Up the Academy” and “Killer Klowns from Outer Space.”

We know that most of the world would not bat an eyelid if Kim Jong-un was suddenly no longer with us. However, the film portrays U.S. journalists as undercover spies, a suspicion that is hyped within terrorist factions all over the world. As Goodwin states in his column, “That distrust has gotten more than a few heroic journalists killed.”

It will take Sony a while to recover from the recent hacking campaign by “Guardians of the Peace,” who leaked private emails and executives’ personal details. Not just in terms of financial loss but also in terms of reputation.When a studio makes a movie that is deemed “an act of war” by the country whose leader is targeted for assassination in the plot, one has to wonder how Sony couldn’t see a backlash coming.

Is North Korea responsible for the hacking? Probably. The FBI has not confirmed or denied that North Korea is involved. Regardless, the whole mess is a lesson in movie making.

North Korea’s vile human rights atrocities (including infanticide, forced abortions, torture and slave labor camps) is worthy of a documentary feature for the world to see—not a poorly-devised comedy.

Update: Sony Pictures canceled the nationwide release of “The Interview” late on Dec. 17 after five major movie chains stated they would not show the film. There were no immediate plans to distribute the movie via video-on-demand or DVD/Blu-ray.

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